


Cosmic

by springwseok



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Ambiguity, Friendship, M/M, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26689072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/springwseok/pseuds/springwseok
Summary: Changgu sees Wooseok's eyes sparkle like a precious gem when he sips his beverage. He falls in love right after.
Relationships: Jung Wooseok/Yeo Changgu | Yeo One
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	Cosmic

_Did his eyes just sparkle gold?_ is what Changgu thinks after the boy he’s been eyeing since he got into the coffee shop takes his first sip of hot chocolate. Could that have been a trick of the light? The sun was about to set anyway, it could’ve been it. Or maybe Changgu was seeing things. His mind might’ve made up how that pink haired boy’s eyes just turned into two bright golden gems for one second before he closed them in delight with the taste of his beverage.   
He wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, though. That boy was so bright overall, his whole body lighted up like the moon was living behind his skin, that he just wouldn’t help but imagine a little more sparkle; it’s like it complemented him. It made sense.

When Changgu entered the cafe his eyes were drawn to him right away, like a metal detector finding a precious stone and going straight to it like second nature. There was something about him Changgu couldn’t quite put a finger on. Besides his obvious looks and the neon pink hair, there was some kind of ethereality, almost hypnotic, shiny. He stood out in the crowded coffee shop, and Changgu looked around to see if there was someone else feeling like they were being pulled to him. Changgu didn’t know why it felt so weird to find out he was the only one. People would look at him with some sort of shock first, probably because of the hair and the height, but nobody seemed to actually see him. At least not the way Changgu was seeing: like he was a celestial body ripped out from the sky. 

This is what makes Changgu decide he wants to see him again. He wants to try and see if his eyes would sparkle again, if he would look just as ethereal under any other light that isn’t the coffee shop’s.   
And Changgu does, in fact, show up in the coffee shop again the next day, same time, with this unreasonable hope to see him again. It didn’t make any sense for him to expect anything, because how lucky could he be? The universe must be really on his side if he actually finds sparkly boy again.  
But he does, and oh my god, this might be Changgu’s lucky day, because the cafe is so crowded that the boy has to sit right next to him in front of the counter, the only free spot.

The moment Changgu finally blurts out the courage he had been taking his time to gather and he says, shyly, “hey, I like your hair” is when Wooseok’s coughs petals.  
  
Changgu is hypnotized when he says, “sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”  
  
“Uhm, it’s okay,” he coughs one more time. A tiny pink petal leaves through his lips again and he puts his mouth there to cover it. He looks at Changgu apologetically, “Sorry, I have to go.”  
  
“What?” Changgu says but the boy is already getting up and grabbing his beverage to leave. “I’m sorry!” he says before the boy walks towards the door and leaves him alone, astonished with the flowers and star boy’s deep voice echoing in his ears.

"That's it, I'm never gonna see him again," Changgu says to himself later that night when he lies down to sleep. He thinks the universe was kind enough to have granted him a second chance to meet that boy, but there he was. A week later, this time late at night, when the cafe wasn’t crowded at all. He is a star wrapped in flesh, right in front of Changgu’s eyes, for the third time. But there’s nothing else he can do now, is there? He had tried talking to him, the boy ran away. There's a line he can't cross, doesn't matter how endearing this boy is or how much he wants to get to know him more. So he just sits at a table far from him and enjoys his coffee in silence, deep in his thought. His mind is, somehow, filled with stars on cheeks and petals on lips. He doesn’t notice when the boy gets up from his table and walks his way.

“Excuse me…” Changgu hears and immediately looks up. He must be dreaming with his eyes open, because pink haired boy is right in front of him, cheeks red but sprinkled with glistering stars.

“Hey,” he says carefully, not sure yet if this is reality.

“Sorry, this is weird… I just wanted to apologize for running away when you talked to me the other day.”

“Oh, I’m the one who needs to apologize! I was kind of intrusive…”

“No, it’s fine…” he fidgets his fingers on the hem of his shirt, seeming nervous. “I liked the compliment. Thank you.”

Changgu simply doesn’t say anything for too many seconds. He feels like his brain is melting, like he’s in some kind of ecstasy. When the other boy starts shifting his weight from one feet to the other and looking around, Changgu finally wakes up from his daze.

“Do you want to sit down?”

"Thank you," he says and sits in front of Changgu. He takes a sip of his beverage and there it is again, the golden eyes. 

"I'm Changgu."

"My name is Wooseok. It's nice to meet you," he smiles and one little sprout pops in the middle of his head, but unlike Changgu, Wooseok doesn't seem to notice it. He continues, "I really wanted to apologize… People never actually talk to me and I just freaked out a little. I'm sorry for the petals too, I must have scared you."

He looks so small and Changgu notices that if Wooseok could curl up into a ball and disappear, he would.

"You didn't scare me," he says, softly, “in fact, there’s a sprout growing on your head right now and I didn’t flinch, did I?”

Wooseok’s eyes go wide and he quickly puts his hands on his head and pats the sprout a little until it disappears.

“I’m so sorry… You must think I’m so weird…”

“What? No, I don’t. Do you have that little faith in me?”

Wooseok giggles, “I didn’t mean that.”

“So will I see you again?”

Wooseok blushes, “sure.”

\----

When Changgu is in love, he overflows. He does everything for the person he loves, he goes out of his way to please them, to satisfy them. His kindness reaches out and stretches until it’s able to touch the person, to caress their cheek and tug a strand of hair behind their ear.  
And he falls in love with Wooseok at this moment, seven months after they met for the first time.  
Their friendship became more easy going day by day, Wooseok feeling more comfortable each time they hung out. He doesn’t cover or tries to hide his little tangible outbreaks of emotion when they become a little too overwhelming. His stars shine, the garden on his head grows, the color of his hair changes ( _wow, that’s a new one_ , Changgu thinks when it first happens), his eyes sparkle. And he just lets it happen, like he should. Because Wooseok, in Changgu's eyes, is not poetry. He's poetic. He isn't something created by men to seek a feeling, he _is_ the feeling. He feels like magic, he smells like gold, he moves like moonlight. And everything he does and feels bursts out through him, and, to Changgu, that is fascinating.

Today, they’re having a game night at Changgu’s place. There’s a tv in front of him with the game paused, bright colors burning his retinas, controllers thrown away on the couch, half eaten burgers and some lost fries on the coffee table, empty cans of long forgotten drinks on the floor. But Changgu can’t see any of that, because Wooseok is right in front of him. Everything else is paused, blurred. Wooseok holds his hand softly, and paints Changgu’s pinky nail in a calm tone of orange, like a coral.  
  
“You like this color?” Wooseok asks, ever so innocent about the loving tunes playing in his friend’s head.  
  
“Yes,” Changgu smiles, “it reminds me of when we went to that weird coffee place.”  
  
The cafe was decorated colorfully and bright, just like the coffees they made there. Changgu thought it would be fun to go there and try one of the unusual beverage flavors with unusual names they had, like stolen dance, forgotten love, wine red or strawberry fields.  
  
“What does that have to do with the nail polish?”  
  
“We ordered that peach flavored drink, remember? How was it called?”  
  
“Oh, sunrise?”  
  
“Yes! Sunrise! It tasted so good, right? It was exactly this color too.”

"Yes, it was delicious,” Wooseok muses, “ but… you remember that?”

"Of course I do," Changgu answers. _I remember everything about you, and everything we did together_ , he thinks. Changgu's heart, at this point, feels like a set of drawers, each one of them used to store the things he loves the most. Memories of beautiful landscapes, fun adventures, delicious tastes, soft touches. And, of course, lovely people. At least half of those drawers hold Wooseok in them. 

The boy smiles and Changgu mimics him. He continues to paint Changgu’s nails, his own already in a dark shade of red. 

Later that night, his mind wanders. Images of Wooseok flash through his closed eyes, details of his smile, blurs of pink, red and peach orange coloring his dreams like strokes of paint on canvas.   
Wooseok is worth remembering. Someone, at some point in the future, will catch themselves thinking of Wooseok, remembering him, his star freckles and his golden eyes, and they will love him. Because it's impossible not to, because there's nothing else you can do when you meet him. If there's something Changgu was born for, it was to love Wooseok.

\----

When Wooseok is in love, he also overflows. He lets the love out in unusual ways.

On a regular night, at Changgu's place, Wooseok's hair turns red all of a sudden. Changgu looks at him with furrowed brows, a questioning look in his eyes.

"What?" Wooseok asks, cheeks turning as red as his hair.

"Your hair is red."

"So what?"

"It never turned red before."

"And?"

"It's a new emotion, isn't it?" Changgu had learned how to understand Wooseok's ways with time. Now, one year after they met, uncountable hang outs and nights spent together talking about everything, Changgu feels like he's the one that knows Wooseok the best.

Wooseok finally tells Changgu he found someone else just like him, someone that can grow flowers on his hair when he laughs too much, bubbly and loud.   
Changgu notices there's more to that statement when Wooseok's freckle stars start shining a little brighter while he explains how he and this flower boy met. And of course Changgu notices, he always does, because he's always looking at Wooseok. He always sees him, even if he closes his eyes. It would be impossible not to.

"So you like him." It wasn't a question.

"What?" 

Changgu can tell, not because of the new hair color, but because of the way he smiles shyly, the way he fidgets his fingers in nervousness, the way he stutters when speaking. 

"You can tell me, you know? I'm your best friend."

And Wooseok gives in, "yes, I have a crush on him… but I don't know if he likes me back."

A thin coat of unwanted and unexpected tears cover Changgu's eyes. 

"I'm sure he does," _it's impossible not to,_ he thinks. 

Wooseok smiles and he sounds happy at least. His smile, along with the freckles, give the room the light it lacks.

The night goes on, and the subject dies. And nothing changes. They keep talking like they always did, it’s like there was never tension in the first place. And maybe there never was, really. 

Later, Changgu settles down and, as he takes in the new information about Wooseok being in love with someone that isn’t him, he overflows. Little drops of transparent sorrow kiss his cheeks softly like a phantom. 

\----

Is that how it feels like to love someone? Changgu is no writer but he feels like he could write pages and pages, to the moon and back, describing Wooseok. He wonders that if he does write it, would Wooseok keep it. And where would he keep it… would he look at the words fondly, would he read them a hundred times, out loud. Would he feel the love through the words. If Changgu dedicates every beautiful word to Wooseok, would he accept it? Even if Wooseok already loves someone else, would he accept it? Would it be out of pity?  
It's the pure feeling of simply wanting to give Wooseok everything. Changgu feels like he needs to, like it's his duty to make Wooseok feel loved. He would do anything Wooseok asks him, just because he loves him. It's as simple as that.

 _Haven't I done enough?,_ Changgu wonders. He knows Wooseok knows he'd do anything for him, because that's just how it works. He simply gives; it's second nature. Love isn't something to be trapped inside one's body, it needs to overflow. It needs to be shown, and it often does without much effort. And that's how it's supposed to be. Changgu knows Wooseok can't feel pressured to love, it won't work that way.   
And finally, after what it seemed like decades holding his breath, Changgu breathes out. He gets it. It's not on his power to make wooseok love him, and that's okay. 

When he looks at Wooseok, holding hands with a shorter boy, flowers sticking out from both their heads, he realizes he's done enough. There wasn't anything else he could have done. He gave his all, and it just wasn't meant to be. But at least he got to see him.  
He got to witness, right in front of his eyes, Wooseok blooming, shining. And changgu fills with pride, because he has him. Even though it’s not the way he wanted, but he still has him. He knows his secrets, he’s the first one Wooseok comes to when he needs advice, or when he needs to share a good story he overheard in class, the orbits of his eyes swirling like the rings of Saturn. Changgu prides himself on being the one that gives the best advice, the one that buys Wooseok coffee every morning, the one that gives him the warmest hugs.  
It’s pride, it’s joy, it’s contentment.   
It’s a type of love he might not quite understand now, but he sure will. It’s cosmic, just like Wooseok himself.

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday, mica <3


End file.
